Curious

[JustineM]

I’ve been researching different Gods and Goddesses and I was curious. Is there a specific deity you (yourself) call on for Trans-related issues?  Personally I tend to here the call of a couple warrior Goddesses, but I was interested in who other may call on.

[KristiLeigh]

I personally call upon Lady Nox, as she is of the essential chaos of creation. I also worship Aphrodite as she is the Goddess of beauty and love. But I know that if you are comfortable with the Goddess you call upon then She will be able to help and guide you through the process of which you are in.

[Rowan.]

@JustineM What a great question! I'm so happy you asked this.

 

The goddess Hecate has always been a favorite of mine to evoke when the current issue is centered in aspects of my transness. She is a liminal deity of the Greek pantheon closely linked to but separate from Persephone and Demeter.

 

Among many other things, she is known to be the goddess of the crossroads which is a word that is steeped in symbolism and has much meaning to me. Personally the cross roads symbolize opportunity to change course, decision making, taking control of my my own path. In my minds eye I see a giant post at the center of the crossroads with countless signs shaped as arrows pointed in all directions. It is at these moments where I find it wise to call upon the blessings and protections of Hecate.

 

Here's a few excerpts from the Wikipedia page:

• She is variously associated with crossroads, entrance-ways.
• Hecate takes on the role of guardian not just of roads, but of all journeys.
• As a goddess expected to avert harmful or destructive spirits from the house or city over which she stood guard and to protect the individual as she or he passed through dangerous liminal places.

I've never actually thought/felt to evoke a warrior goddess, but now that you've mention it, I think it a wonderful idea. I should probably do some more reading. Thanks for the inspiration <3

[HaraSurya]

I'm Norse Pagan who celebrates Wiccan holidays and you might be surprised among that pantheon.

 

Thor, for as masculine as he's depicted, dressed up as Freya to retrieve his hammer from a giant. Based on grave goods some think Thor may have had cross-dressing priests "wedded" to him.

Odin learned Seidr from Freya, which was a traditionally female form of magic.

Loki is Slipnir's mother and the giantess Tok, who refused to weep for Baldr. 'nuff said.

 

I also pray to Freya as a goddess of love, beauty and war and Frigg as a motherly, protective goddess. (Freya on new moons and Frigg on full moons.) Frigg and her handmaidens covered nearly all aspects of a Old Norse married woman's life - which included keeping the keys to the lockboxes and household industry making goods for the men to sell while on their trading voyages.

[Elena Aideen]

Might be a fair bit after the fact, but Etain is literally the Irish Goddess of transformation, she is also sometimes referred to as the Eternal Maiden. She's considered a healing goddess, particularly of the soul, as well as a goddess of passion and beauty. A good place to look to find information about her is to search for "The Wooing of Etain" which is the primary mythological story concerning her.

 

She's been one of my personal patrons since I was old enough to understand the concept.

[Charlize]

I never knew about Etain.  Will have to look her up!

 

Hugs,

 

Charlize

[WillowA113]

58 minutes ago, Telestria said:

My patron goddess is Isis Urania as part of a triad with Nephthys and Osiris. That places an interesting and rather complex arrangement for trans issues, especially when correlated to Greek deities through syncretism.

 

Herodotus, Dio Cassius, Plutarch, Diodorus Siculus, and Nonnos, all identified Isis with Athena. though some societal threads identified her with Aphrodite. Plutarch drew the connection through an image of Isis-Athena at a temple in Xais.

Plutarch identified Nephthys with Aphrodite in the Moralia, but also left open a supposed connection of Astarte (the Canaanite Aphrodite) with the Queen of Byblos.

Herodotus, Plutarch, Diodorus Siculus, and Nonnos identified Osiris with Dionysus.

Ovid identified Isis with Leto in the Metamorphoses in the story of Iphis where she affects a transformation from female to male.

 

Part of what makes this interesting is that Isis as Athena often appeals to those F2M because she sprang fully armored from the head of Zeus, expressing as a male. Because she sprang fully formed, she's on the Great Seal of the State of California. California became a state directly without "growing up" as a territory. But whereas Athena is the goddess of Wisdom, she also appeals to those trans people inclined toward Philosophy as was also the case in Egypt as Isis.

 

Osiris' connection with Dionysus places the Egyptian castration myth in line with the Dionysian connection to Kybele in Anatolia and parts of the Aegean as one who cross dressed and who shared many aspects of the rites of Kybele. Dionysus is twice born and Osiris is resurrected through Isis, making him effectively "twice born" also. The Osirian-Dionysian connection was the basis for Nonnus's composing the Dionysiaca.

 

This triad gets even deeper when we consider the speech of Pausanias in the Symposium of Plato in which he cites an Aphrodite Ourania (Heavenly Aphrodite born from the severed member of Uranus as it dropped into sea foam) and Aphrodite Pandemou (Commoner's Aphrodite born from Zeus and Dione). For those inclined to connect Isis with the Heavenly Aphrodite, the Commoner's Aphrodite would pertain to Nephthys. Between Pausanias and Karl Ulrichs, gay affection pertained to the Heavenly Aphrodite and those following after were considered "Urning" (German) or "Uranian" (English); and also heterosexual affection pertained to the Commoner's Aphrodite and those following after were considered "Dioning" or "of Dione."

Nice to meet another synchrontist! 
My personal beliefs are a combination of Wiccan, Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Norse, Celtic, and scientific beliefs with a little bit of Christianity and miscellaneous religions sprinkled in! I know, I’m all over the place. I always like to learn more about the mythologies of the world, so maybe I might synchronize more in the future, but those just mentioned will always be most important to me. 

[Ivy]

I think of myself as Pantheistic.

In practice I honor Gaia - the Earth Mother.  (as in the Gaia hypothesis)

I also keep the Greater and Lesser Sabbats of the Wheel of the Year.

[WillowA113]

3 hours ago, Telestria said:

Likewise!

Various ideas, principles, and even rites may speak to us and none of them without something to offer.

Agreed! There’s truth in everything!